The Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) is part of the world wide Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which are conducted in over 90 countries since the past thirty years. The DHS is undertaken with the objective to provide reliable estimates of fertility, family planning, maternal and child health, nutritional status, women empowerment, domestic violence […]

The First National Conference on Social Franchising in Pakistan hosted by the Marie Stopes Society (MSS) in Bhurban concluded after two days of deliberations on 28 August. The participants at this event were drawn from both the public and private sector entities that are providing reproductive health (RH), family planning (FP) and Maternal and Child […]

Pakistan has the highest number of children that die during child birth or on the first day of life. Unfortunately, it is the top country in the world that’s been unable to meet security requirements for newborn babies, yet there is no official notice of this. According to the latest Save the Children report “Ending […]

“Central to post-2015 development agenda discussions is the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030. Though ambitious and laudable, this goal is not enough. With one in eight people suffering from hunger today, and nearly 2 billion affected by hidden hunger (micronutrient deficiencies), IFPRI’s 2013 Global Food Policy Report suggests that it is equally important to eliminate […]

Last month, a high powered technical Symposium on maternal and child health concluded at the flooded Oxford University Egrove Park with a message that can be captured in just one Cartoon. Projected as the last slide of Stephen Kennedy, the opening speaker’s presentation, the cartoon was framed in the setting of a racing track with a […]

Gender equality remains the biggest global challenge of the 21st century. Despite a global discourse on gender equality and a number of international conventions on women’s rights, there is hardly any country in the world that can truly claim to have achieved gender egalitarianism. Gender gaps in social, economic and political status persist the world over. […]

It is until just 28 days after birth that a baby is called a newborn and this is the most vulnerable period of a baby’s life. The recently launched global report of Save the Children “Ending Newborn Deaths: Ensuring Every Baby Survives” quotes some heartbreaking facts and figures about newborn survival worldwide as well as […]

Last month, the Planning Commission and the United Nations Development Project jointly released Pakistan’s Millennium Development Goals Report. The comprehensive report, fifth in its series was aimed at assessing Pakistan’s progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, documenting successes and challenges towards achieving these goals, galvanize for a final push and finally to help frame […]

According to the UNFPA, every day 20,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth in developing countries. There are in effect 20,000 dire untold stories of gender inequity, malnutrition, survival and even abuse. Anayat’s is one such story of survival, selflessness and cultural pressure. It is the story of needless suffering of a woman, […]

The launch of Annual EVERY ONE Campaign report “Lives on the Line” on 23rd October, 2013; is meant to invigorate the MDGs commitment and advocate for a final global impetus towards the unfinished business. Save the Children started its most endeavoring global campaign, EVERY ONE in 2009, to contribute towards the concerted efforts being done […]

The Heartfile Health forum features commentaries, resources and updates on Pakistan and global health and population-relevant development issues. The eForum is not just a virtual discussion portal for policy issues, but also an archive and a sounding board for issues to be identified, which Heartfile frames for deeper discussion through Webinars. It also showcases patients supported through the Heartfile Health Financing initiative.